Thursday, September 24, 2009

Spoilers for the second episode of "Parks and Recreation" season two coming up just as soon as I have flashbacks about that brownie...

"Stakeout," in addition to being another funny episode to start the second season, was interesting to me for the way it divided up the cast into clear stylistic pairings. We got Leslie and Tom, played by two high-energy comics in Amy Poehler and Aziz Ansari, hiding in the van together; Ann and Mark, the two relatively normal, straight men characters on a date; and, in my favorite combo, Nick Offerman and Aubrey Plaza in an epic duel of comic minimalism as April offered to help Ron deal with his crippling hernia. Andy, meanwhile, remains the wildcard as he lives in the pit, out of some pathetic hope that Ann will take him back and he can move back in within seconds.

The Ron/April stuff was the funniest - Ron flinging the burger at his mouth is the funniest food-related thing to happen on NBC Thursday since Kevin brought his famous chili to work - but the Tom/Leslie scenes had their moments, and they were important from a long-term perspective. It's one thing for Jim to be constantly mocking Dwight on "The Office," since Jim is our hero (sort of) and Dwight is a broadly-drawn and obnoxious supporting character. But this show's writers are making a clear and understandable push to make Leslie seem more human and sympathetic. So for Tom to hate and/or mock Leslie 24/7, while Leslie's too sweet and oblivious to fight back, might be a bit much, so it was good to see an occasional moment where Tom recognizes that she's not so bad all the time.

That storyline was notable for three other things. First, it added back in a joke that got cut from the pilot script explaining why Aziz Ansari is playing a character named Tom Haverford.

Second, for the second week in a row, and more directly here, we got a story playing off of recent political headlines, with Tom's encounter with the cops turning into a Skip Gates parody. (He even says "I'll step into your mama's van!" in lieu of "I'll speak to your mama outside!") When I talked with co-creator Mike Schur for last week's interview, he said the writers are making an effort to be more topical this year. I'm curious how you feel this one worked out; does coming this close to the details of an actual event take you out of the story?

Third, the main cop was played by comedian Louis CK. My only previous exposure to him was his HBO sitcom "Lucky Louie," which I panned (and which unexpectedly led to Jim Norton yelling at me on Opie & Anthony for a few minutes), but I liked him a lot here, particularly his talking head at the end - "I was attracted to her in a sexual manner that was appropriate" - which Schur said CK improvised.

In fact, one of the key stylistic differences between "Parks and Rec" and "The Office" so far is that Schur and Greg Daniels have let their actors improvise more often than "The Office" cast gets to. I asked Schur about this, in something that wound up getting cut from the actual interview piece, and this is what he wrote:

I think it may just be because Amy and Aziz (and Aubrey too -- all the "A"s) are so comfortable improvising, we just allowed for more time for them to do it. I knew Amy as an improviser first, and I think she's the best improviser I've ever seen, so it would be silly of us not to take advantage of that. Offerman is great too. They all are, really.

I honestly think that critics have this TV centric view of how a sitcom should be. Lucky Louie, to me, was such a breath of fresh air. I was sad when it didn't go past a season. It was funny, but accurate enough where each parent could relate.

I love that phrase. It does so perfectly capture the essence of the April/Ron scenes.

The burger toss, the shoving and chewing an entire candy necklace (not getting that there was a string was predictable but still funny) and "no, there isn't a stereotype about Indian people and parking" were my faves.

Or the quick cut to Ron in the dark when Leslie mentions that she will bring Ron Swanson in to deal with the cop like he's some big shot. Which is made all the more hilarious when Ron builds himself up to April as they leave the office.

The swan dive was the best. And I'm still laughing at "I was supposed to have a rock fight with a crazy guy... but he's 20 minutes late".

One thing I noticed was that the documentary style was used pretty effectively tonight, particularly with Louis CK's improvised bit at the end, which played off of how uncomfortable such a discussion with a camera crew would be, especially for a character like CK's cop. Last year, the documentary style seemed unnecessary, so I'm glad to see them using it more effectively.

We gave up this show last year, but still had a season pass on our TiVo, so got this season's shows. I agree with Belinda, we are enjoying P&R more than the Office right now. Unfortunately, I think it may be too late given the very low ratings for P&R.

Alan, you really need to watch both of Louis CK's HBO stand-up specials, Shameless and Chewed Up. I promise you that you will not be disappointed. Like other commenters have said, Lucky Louis was funny, and he's funny here on Parks and Rec, but Louis CK is absolutely at his best when he's doing stand-up.

I'm enjoying this season so far, but I laughed more last season. It feels as though in making Leslie more sympathetic they're taking away a lot of her funny lines and actions. I understand that they're still trying to find a balance with her character, but I hope they don't make her too soft. I think I actually related to her much more when she would have brief moments of being more human and sympathetic and more oblivious rudeness. She had much more to learn and farther to go as a character.

Funny episode, but this show has the same problem for me that "Community" does: Yeah, funny, but I still don't care about the characters or the plots, so I have no reason to tune in every week. Right off the bat, both "Modern Family" and "Cougar Town" connected with me more than these two have.

Loved the episode, loved the addition of Louis CK (that said, I was, one of the few, fans of Lucky Louie. Is this a brief stint, or will he juggle P&R with his new FX show?). And like some of the other commenters, this topped The Office (which itself had a great episode).

Oh, and because like everyone, I can't get enough of the burger toss...

I thought this one was hilarious, and appreciated that I think I laughed at every single character at least once. I really enjoyed Leslie at the beginning: hos before bros, and "You make really good coffee!"

I had to watch this episode twice because I was laughing so hard I missed half the jokes. My favorite moment by far (and this was mentioned before but it bears repeating) was that quick cut when Leslie says I can get Ron Swanson here in minutes ... and it cuts to him sitting motionless, in the dark, alone in his office.